Vice

44: Hospital

"Miss!" A woman's voice startles Natara awake. 

Her eyes snap open and she reaches out to feel her surroundings. I must have fallen asleep in one of the waiting chairs. How long had she been at the hospital waiting for Mr. Vice? She whips out her phone and texts her parents, hoping they won't be mad.

"Miss," the woman says again, more forcefully. 

Natara hadn't woken up enough to fully realize that the woman was still in front of her. She shrinks back in her chair, embarrassed. Even though this woman is also dressed in scrubs, it isn't the same nurse as earlier. Instead, it is an older woman, maybe in her mid-fifties. 

"Mr. Vice is awake. He's seeing visitors now," she says. 

"Oh, okay. Thank you!" Natara looks up from her phone and smiles. The woman walks off. Natara stands up and stretches, letting out a yawn before she makes her way toward Mr. Vice's room.

The more she wakes up and the closer she gets to his room, the more nervous Natara feels. 

She draws a long breath into her lungs before she steps inside. She's not ready to face him after everything that happened. What will she say? What could she say? Would he want to see her?

She steps inside the room.

Mr. Vice's eyes are cold when he glances over. As cold as they were when he first saw her on the bridge. Natara instinctively steps back. She considers running away from the room and out of the hospital.

"Don't look at me like that," he snaps, his face tensing. Her brow furrows. She doesn't know exactly how she's looking at him but she knows she feels hurt. Confused. Betrayed.

He's just her boss - just someone she ended up spending the night with sometimes - so why does it hurt her so much that he tried to kill himself? Was she really so silly to think that he was suddenly better? Was she stupid enough to forget that he's still the same person she met on that bridge? 

Natara shakes her head. She doesn't know what she was thinking.

"I'm not looking at you like anything. It's my job to be here. Otherwise I wouldn't be," Natara says before she can stop herself. As soon as the words slip from her lips she feels the sting. No, she sees the sting as it etches across Mr. Vice's features. He grits his teeth and his eyes sink to the floor beside her.

"Well, you're relieved, then. Go home, Natara, if you don't want to be here that badly," Mr. Vice growls.

Natara is ready to turn heel and walk out of that hospital room. She knows she was a bit mean to Mr. Vice but he was so cold back. How could he be that cold back? Who is she kidding? He's always cold. He's Mr. Vice. Everyone knows him as cold. He is cold. Obviously even when it all boils down to it, she's just like anyone else to him anyway.

"Am I interrupting?" Jace asks from the doorway. Natara does a double take. Why is he here? 

"Jaquie told the office that you were feeling a bit under the weather, so everyone pitched in for this. I'm just the delivery boy." He holds up a flower and balloon bouquet with a big "Get Well Soon" card nestled inside. "Everyone from the office signed the card for you. We're hoping you feel better as soon as possible."

Mr. Vice doesn't say anything. If anything, he looks a little uncomfortable. He nods. Jace gives him a halfhearted smile and places the basket on the table beside Mr. Vice's bed. As he turns to leave the room he gives Natara a genuine smile.

"Are you on your way out, Ara? I was hoping to ask you something," Jace asks. He places his hand on her shoulder and her face flushes bright red. Almost instinctively, her eyes flash toward Mr. Vice. Instead of looking disinterested like she thought he would be, he stares intensely at Jace and then locks eyes with her. He looks angry. Natara quickly looks back at Jace.

"Yes, I was," she quickly replies. Jace's hand slips down to the small of her back and she feels like her face might catch fire. Why is he touching me like that? Why is he doing it in front of Mr. Vice? She doesn't have to turn around and look at Mr. Vice to feel how hot his stare is on her. She scurries out of the room.

Once she's in the hallway Jace's hand slips away from her back and her shoulders relax. Jace doesn't seem relaxed, though. If anything, he looks nervous.

"Ara," he starts, tugging at his collar as if it's suddenly become warm in the hallway. "We've been out a couple times together and I've come to really enjoy your company. Would you like to, perhaps, become official? Give things a try with me?"

Her eyes widen. Is he really asking what she thinks he's asking? She realizes that they're entirely too close to Mr. Vice's door for him to be asking that. Can Mr. Vice hear the conversation they're having? She starts to scoot a little further from the door and then stops herself.

Why is she scooting away anyway? Mr. Vice had basically said there was nothing between them. He even tried to kill himself as if Natara didn't matter at all. There was never anything between them. He hates Natara and she hates him back. That's all there is and ever was.

Jace - on the other hand - she thinks as she stares up at his beautiful eyes and sharp cheekbones, is someone she could have something with. He is a bit older, but surely that makes him more mature. He isn't some high school boy like James was. He's a grown man. A grown man who wants to date her. 

"I'd love to be your girlfriend, Jace," Natara answers.